PD Editorial: Neil Armstrong and one small step into history

Neil Armstrong casting the first human shadow on the lunar surface in this July 20, 1969 NASA photo. Armstrong, the first man on the moon, died Saturday, Aug. 25, 2012. He was 82. (NASA via The New York Times) -- EDITORIAL USE ONLY

August 27, 2012, 7:50PM

08/27/2012

On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong set foot in a place where no man had gone before.

If you ask anyone over 50 years old, it's a near certainty that they'll remember exactly where they were when Armstrong became the first human to walk on the moon.

Hundreds of millions of people around the globe watched on TV as Armstrong stepped from the landing craft to the lunar surface and said 11 eloquent and unforgettable words, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

Neil Armstrong (1930-2012)

FILE - In this July 20, 1969 file photo, a footprint left by one of the astronauts of the Apollo 11 mission shows in the soft, powder surface of the moon. Commander Neil A. Armstrong and Air Force Col. Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin Jr. became the first men to walk on the moon after blastoff from Cape Kennedy, Fla., on July 16, 1969. The family of Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, says he died Saturday, Aug. 25, 2012, at age 82. A statement from the family says he died following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures. It doesn't say where he died. Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon July 20, 1969. He radioed back to Earth the historic news of "one giant leap for mankind." Armstrong and fellow astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin spent nearly three hours walking on the moon, collecting samples, conducting experiments and taking photographs. In all, 12 Americans walked on the moon from 1969 to 1972. (AP Photo/NASA)

FILE - In this March 9, 1966 file photo, astronaut Neil Armstrong is seated during a suiting up exercise Cape Kennedy, Fla., in preparation for the Gemini 8 flight. The family of Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, says he died Saturday, Aug. 25, 2012, at age 82. A statement from the family says he died following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures. It doesn't say where he died. Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon July 20, 1969. He radioed back to Earth the historic news of "one giant leap for mankind." Armstrong and fellow astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin spent nearly three hours walking on the moon, collecting samples, conducting experiments and taking photographs. In all, 12 Americans walked on the moon from 1969 to 1972. (AP Photo/File)

FILE - In this March 6, 1966 file photo Astronaut Neil Armstrong, pilot for the Gemini VIII mission is shown. The family of Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, says he died Saturday, Aug. 25, 2012, at age 82. A statement from the family says he died following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures. It doesn't say where he died. Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon July 20, 1969. He radioed back to Earth the historic news of "one giant leap for mankind." Armstrong and fellow astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin spent nearly three hours walking on the moon, collecting samples, conducting experiments and taking photographs. In all, 12 Americans walked on the moon from 1969 to 1972. (AP Photo/FILE)

FILE - In this Sept. 17, 1962 file photo, Neil Armstrong, one of the nine astronauts, is shown as he was introduced to the press, along with the other astronauts in Houston. The family of Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, says he died Saturday, Aug. 25, 2012, at age 82. A statement from the family says he died following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures. It doesn't say where he died. Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon July 20, 1969. He radioed back to Earth the historic news of "one giant leap for mankind." Armstrong and fellow astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin spent nearly three hours walking on the moon, collecting samples, conducting experiments and taking photographs. In all, 12 Americans walked on the moon from 1969 to 1972. (AP Photo/File)

FILE - In this July 16, 1969 file photo, Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong gives a thumbs up signal as the three Apollo astronauts walk to the transfer van en route to the Saturn Five rocket ready to blast off for the moon, July 16, 1969, Cape Kennedy, Fla. The family of Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, says he has died at age 82. A statement from the family says he died following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures. It doesn't say where he died. Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon July 20, 1969. He radioed back to Earth the historic news of "one giant leap for mankind." Armstrong and fellow astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin spent nearly three hours walking on the moon, collecting samples, conducting experiments and taking photographs. In all, 12 Americans walked on the moon from 1969 to 1972. (AP Photo)

FILE - In this Feb. 11, 1986 file photo, former astronaut Neil Armstrong, a member of the presidential panel investigating the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion, listens to testimony before the commission in Washington, David Acheson, a commission member, listens in the background. A model of the shuttle sits on the table. The family of Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, says he has died at age 82. A statement from the family says he died following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures. It doesn't say where he died. Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon July 20, 1969. He radioed back to Earth the historic news of "one giant leap for mankind." Armstrong and fellow astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin spent nearly three hours walking on the moon, collecting samples, conducting experiments and taking photographs. In all, 12 Americans walked on the moon from 1969 to 1972. (AP Photo/Scott Stewart)

In this July 20, 2009, photo, Buzz Aldrin, left, Michael Collins, center, and Neil Armstrong stand in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, on the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Neil Armstrong was a quiet self-described nerdy engineer who became a global hero when as a steely-nerved pilot he made "one giant leap for mankind" with a small step on to the moon. The modest man who had people on Earth entranced and awed from almost a quarter million miles away has died. He was 82. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

FILE - In this July 16, 1969 file photo, Neil Armstrong waving in front, heads for the van that will take the crew to the rocket for launch to the moon at Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Florida. The family of Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, says he has died at age 82. A statement from the family says he died following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures. It doesn't say where he died. Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon July 20, 1969. He radioed back to Earth the historic news of "one giant leap for mankind." Armstrong and fellow astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin spent nearly three hours walking on the moon, collecting samples, conducting experiments and taking photographs. In all, 12 Americans walked on the moon from 1969 to 1972. (AP Photo/FILE)

FILE - In this July 20, 1969 file photo provided by NASA shows Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin, the first men to land on the moon, plant the U.S. flag on the lunar surface. The family of Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, says he has died at age 82. A statement from the family says he died following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures. It doesn't say where he died. Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon July 20, 1969. He radioed back to Earth the historic news of "one giant leap for mankind." Armstrong and fellow astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin spent nearly three hours walking on the moon, collecting samples, conducting experiments and taking photographs. In all, 12 Americans walked on the moon from 1969 to 1972. (AP Photo/NASA)

FILE - In this March 16, 1966 file photo Astronauts Neil A. Armstrong and David R. Scott arrive, March 16, 1966 at Complex 19 for a simulated test in preparation for flight. The family of Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, says he has died at age 82. A statement from the family says he died following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures. It doesn't say where he died. Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon July 20, 1969. He radioed back to Earth the historic news of "one giant leap for mankind." Armstrong and fellow astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin spent nearly three hours walking on the moon, collecting samples, conducting experiments and taking photographs. In all, 12 Americans walked on the moon from 1969 to 1972. (AP Photo/FILE)

FILE - In this 1969 photo provided by NASA the crew of the Apollo 11 mission is seen. From left are Neil Armstrong, Mission Commander, Michael Collins, Lt. Col. USAF, and Edwin Eugene Aldrin, also known as Buzz Aldrin, USAF Lunar Module pilot. The family of Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, says he has died at age 82. A statement from the family says he died following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures. It doesn't say where he died. Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon July 20, 1969. He radioed back to Earth the historic news of "one giant leap for mankind." Armstrong and fellow astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin spent nearly three hours walking on the moon, collecting samples, conducting experiments and taking photographs. In all, 12 Americans walked on the moon from 1969 to 1972. (AP Photo/NASA)

FILE - In undated photo provided by NASA shows Neil Armstrong. The family of Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, says he has died at age 82. A statement from the family says he died following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures. It doesn't say where he died. Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon July 20, 1969. He radioed back to Earth the historic news of "one giant leap for mankind." Armstrong and fellow astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin spent nearly three hours walking on the moon, collecting samples, conducting experiments and taking photographs. In all, 12 Americans walked on the moon from 1969 to 1972. (AP Photo/NASA)

FILE - In this Monday, Feb. 20, 2012, file photo provided by NASA, Apollo 11 Astronaut Neil Armstrong speaks at a celebration dinner honoring John Glenn in Columbus, Ohio. The family of Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, says he has died at age 82. A statement from the family says he died following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures. It doesn't say where he died. Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon July 20, 1969. He radioed back to Earth the historic news of "one giant leap for mankind." Armstrong and fellow astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin spent nearly three hours walking on the moon, collecting samples, conducting experiments and taking photographs. In all, 12 Americans walked on the moon from 1969 to 1972. (AP Photo/NASA, Bill Ingalls, File)

FILE - In this May 12 ,2012 file photo, former astronaut Neil Armstrong testifies before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing on NASA's proposed budget and the future of the manned space flight program on Capitol Hill in Washington. The family of Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, says he has died at age 82. A statement from the family says he died following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures. It doesn't say where he died. Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon July 20, 1969. He radioed back to Earth the historic news of "one giant leap for mankind." Armstrong and fellow astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin spent nearly three hours walking on the moon, collecting samples, conducting experiments and taking photographs. In all, 12 Americans walked on the moon from 1969 to 1972. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

This July 20, 1969 file photo provided by NASA shows Neil Armstrong. The family of Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, says he has died at age 82. A statement from the family says he died following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures. It doesn't say where he died. Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon July 20, 1969. He radioed back to Earth the historic news of "one giant leap for mankind." Armstrong and fellow astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin spent nearly three hours walking on the moon, collecting samples, conducting experiments and taking photographs. In all, 12 Americans walked on the moon from 1969 to 1972. (AP Photo/NASA)

Armstrong, who died Saturday at age 82, will be remembered alongside history's great explorers — a Ferdinand Magellan of the space age. He also will be remembered for his humility. After the ticker-tape parades, a state dinner and a world tour with his fellow Apollo 11 astronauts — Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins — Armstrong stayed away from the limelight. He wasn't interested in celebrity or profiting from his historic moment.

He never published a memoir, and asked about the lunar mission, the self-effacing astronaut inevitably called it "the culmination of the work of 300,000 to 400,000 people over a decade." Armstrong described himself as a "white socks, pocket protector, nerdy engineer."

But he also was a talented aviator, one of the daredevil test pilots chronicled in Tom Wolfe's "The Right Stuff." And his composed response was credited with avoiding disaster on his only other space flight. Gemini 8 in 1966, which made an emergency return to Earth after a malfunction. He again took the controls at the last minute to find a safe landing spot on the moon with fuel running short.

In meeting President John F. Kennedy's challenge to put a man on the moon "before the end of the decade," the Apollo 11 mission was a Cold War triumph and a welcome respite from the turmoil of the 1960s — the Vietnam War, inner-city riots and the assassinations of Kennedy, his brother Robert and Martin Luther King Jr. But it was more than that: The lunar landing was one of the great scientific achievements of the 20th century and a pivotal moment in human history. As the late author Arthur C. Clarke wrote of the Apollo 11 mission, "Now history and fiction have become inexorably intertwined."

Eleven other men walked on the moon before NASA canceled its lunar exploration program in 1972, shifting focus to the space shuttle and orbital space stations. Two years ago, Armstrong joined several other Apollo-era astronauts in urging the Obama administration to reconsider its decision to put off a return to the moon and rely more on private industry for space exploration.

As the Curiosity mission unfolds on Mars, the public's attention is again focusing on space exploration and the possibilities that go with saying, "If we can put a man on the moon .<TH>.<TH>."